![]() Collectors Weekly: Aside from these Westclox Baby and Big Ben models, what else do you collect? Not to mention there’s the Big Bens so that doubles it right there. Now I know that there’s probably 14 basic shapes, but a lot more variations than that depending on how far you want to take things. I thought, oh boy, I just need four more and I’ll have them all! That summer at an antique store I came across one that wasn’t even in the book, and I thought that was exciting. That way I got myself another Baby Ben, bringing my collection to three by age 12.įor my 14th birthday I got a book called The Treasury of American Clocks and there was a picture showing the seven types of Baby Bens. Then my friend and I went around the neighborhood asking people if they had anything they wanted to give away, like old clocks and cameras and tape recorders. I think we threw it away.īig Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 – 1932Ī few years later my grandma gave me one that worked, and my aunt gave me another one. I took it all apart and asked my dad to help me put it back together, but he cut his finger on the spring. Stoddard: My grandma gave me an old Baby Ben alarm clock that didn’t work when I was seven. Collectors Weekly: And how did you get started with Baby Ben alarm clocks? So I swapped them, and it’s worked perfectly ever since. I was looking at it and said, aha! there’s the problem, there were two gears that were in backwards. Once I was winding it and one of the main springs broke, so I decided to take it all apart and fix the main spring. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. When I was 11 or 12, I started mowing lawns for money and paid another man to repair it for me, but when it came back it would run for a while and then stop, pretty erratic. I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed but the repairman couldn’t fix it. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. They no longer list this item but they may have a few left - could be worth a phone call.Old Rose (pink) crackle finish Baby Ben with luminous dial: 1929 – 1930 One of the pictures shows an original balance screw replaced with one of the slightly larger metric threaded new balance screws from Timesavers. I've tried making them and had them run OK but getting a uniform cone that is smooth and true down to the point was near impossible, at least for me.īelow are pictures of three common Westclox movements showing that Westclox did in deed make extensive use of screw-in balance "cups" or balance screws. ![]() There are some older posts on this board (if they weren't lost in the transfer) where different members have suggested methods they claim to have used successfully to recondition balance screws, or whatever you want to call them, but I've never found any method that was completely satisfactory except replacement. I assume that in this context "refitted" is the same as replaced. It’s almost certain these cups will need to be refitted.Īnd, most certainly the balance staffs will need to be Surface and obscures the wear, which is near the apex of the cup. ![]() Under highest magnification because of the inward conical shape. It is very difficult to examine the cups even Worn, they usually wear the cups as well. " A frequently neglected repair is the balance pivot/balance cup. Having said that, it sure sounds like the clock could use a cleaning, however you'd do it.Ĭlick to expand.Yes, the article linked in post # 18 does mention "cups" and rightly laments the related issues that apply to any brand clock. I know that hairsprings aren't supposed to go into the ultrasonic cleaner, but it seems that watch repairmen differ on the topic. A nice run in the ultrasonic cleaner may free things up, after which you'll want to dunk the movement in alcohol to absorb any water and, after it's thoroughly dry, oil it, especially the mainsprings. The point here is that you can occasionally get away with cleaning the movement while it's assembled, and there are occasions where this is marginally permissible. Have the screams of outrage subsided? Good. Then immerse the movement in gasoline and start the alarm, which will vibrate the movement. And now for yet another Neanderthal horological procedure from 50 years ago: The standard repair for a gummed up alarm clock was to remove the movement, strip off dial and hands, wind up the alarm train, and set it to go off when the alarm stem is pulled out.
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